Ethics Center News
September 2010
"Acting Together" film launch in New York City, September 23rd (9/23)
Acting Together, a new documentary film created by the International Center for Ethics, Justice, and Public Life in collaboration with Theatre Without Borders, documenting exemplary peacebuilding performance efforts around the globe, will be launched with a special screening at the La Mama Experimental Theatre in New York City on September 23, 2010, at a major international conference on theater and peacebuilding in conflict zones. More details.
August 2010
Masters in Coexistence and Conflict & Coexistence International move to the Heller School (8/26)
Beginning with the 2010-11 academic year, the Masters Program in Coexistence and Conflict, and Coexistence International, have moved to a new home: Brandeis University’s Heller School for Social Policy and Management. Read more about the transition, including a letter from Dan Terris, Director of the Ethics Center.
Summer/Fall 2010 issue of Ethics Central now in print and online (8/18)
Read about the Center's work from January through July 2010, and learn about new resources and coming events in the Summer/Fall issue of Ethics Central. Includes: News from a new undergraduate summer program at The Hague..."Climate Change and the Choices We Make: A Year of Exploration"...Details of the NYC launch of a documentary produced by the Center in collaboration with Theatre Without Borders...A report on the 7th Brandeis Institute for International Judges - which included a session led by US Supreme Court Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy...One student's account of lobbying a Massachusetts state senator to extend in-state tuition rates to undocumented immigrants...and more. Now available [PDF].
July 2010
Seventh Brandeis Institute for International Judges held in Salzburg, Austria (7/25-30)
Sixteen judges from thirteen international courts and tribunals gathered for the the seventh Brandeis Institute for International Judges (BIIJ). Participants represented a wide spectrum of international justice institutions. The theme this year was “Toward an International Rule of Law.” The institute also featured a keynote address by Patricia O’Brien, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, and an informal session led by Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court Anthony Kennedy. Read more.
Moot court victory for Brandeis undergrads at The Hague (7/15)
In July, a Brandeis University student team beat out top international legal experts on their way to a moot court victory in The Hague. The bilingual court competition, decided by guest judges from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, was part of a new “Brandeis in The Hague” study abroad program launched this year. Read more.
Judge Thomas Buergenthal joins the International Advisory Board of the Center (7/14)
The Center is pleased to welcome Thomas Buergenthal, one of the contemporary giants in the field of international justice and human rights, to its International Advisory Board. A United States citizen, Judge Buergenthal has been a judge on the 15-member International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague since 2000, and will be resigning from the Court in September 2010. He is a former President of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and a former member of the UN Human Rights Committee. Recipient of the Gruber Foundation International Justice Prize and member of the Ethics Commission of the International Olympic Committee, he has been re-appointed Lobingier Professor of Comparative Law and Jurisprudence at the George Washington University Law School, where he taught before his election to the ICJ. Judge Buergenthal is author or co-author of numerous books and law review articles on international law and international human rights topics. His memoir A Lucky Child: A Memoir of Surviving Auschwitz as a Young Boy was published in 2009.
Welcoming Brandeis University's Eighth President (7/8)
Frederick M. Lawrence, currently Dean of the George Washington University Law School, will become the eighth president of Brandeis University on January 1, 2011. Lawrence has a deep engagement with issues of civil rights, international law, and other areas relevant to the work of the Ethics Center, and we look forward to welcoming him to the Brandeis community. More about Fred Lawrence. Read his George Washington Law School blog, 20th & H.
May 2010
Program Director of Coexistence International makes fact-finding trip to Mexico and Latin America; includes presentations and meetings
(5/25-6/9)
During her trip Jessica Berns, Program Director of Coexistence International, visited Mexico, Costa Rica, and Peru. She met with individuals and organizations representing civil society, academia, and governments who work on issues pertaining to coexistence and governance, including immigration, indigenous rights, and transitional justice. Read more about her trip.
Co-Directors of Sikkuy: The Association for the Advancement of Civic Equality in Israel, visit Brandeis
(5/11)
Sikkuy ("chance" or "opportunity" in Hebrew) is a non-partisan NGO in Israel that develops and implements projects to advance equality between Arab and Jewish citizens of Israel in government budgets, resource allocation, hiring policy, land usage, access to government services, etc. In a lunchtime conversation, Ron Gerlitz and Ali Hader, Co-Executive Directors of Sikkuy, provided insights into their most recent Sikkuy Equality Index [PDF], measuring the socio-economic gaps between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel. The event was hosted by Coexistence International and the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies.
Ethics Center celebrates its graduating seniors at "UnCommencement" 2010
(5/6)
In an annual tradition, the Ethics Center celebrated graduating undergraduates and graduate students who have been affiliated with the Center during their time at Brandeis. Honoree Mohammad Kundas '10 performed with a fellow member of his band Mochila. See photos from the event.
April 2010
Present and Defend: Projects from "Advocacy for Policy Change" (4/30)
The students of "Advocacy for Policy Change" (LGLS 161b) presented and defended the legal advocacy projects they developed over the course of the semester. Read more.
Nathan Cummings Foundation Supports Acting Together Educational Toolkit, Book, and Documentary (4/29)
The Nathan Cummings Foundation awarded $75,000 to the Center’s Programs in Peacebuilding and the Arts to enable the creation of an educational “toolkit” to accompany the Acting Together anthology and film, and to aid the distribution of these resources to educators and practitioners doing related work. The anthology and film document exemplary peacebuilding performance efforts around the globe, and are intended to serve as resources for education and advocacy. Read more.
In Los Angeles Times op-ed Center Director Terris writes that personal attacks by defenders of Israel on Justice Goldstone are wrong
(4/21)
In an op-ed published by the Los Angeles Times, by Center Director Dan Terris explains why he believes personal attacks on Justice Richard Goldstone (Chair of the Center's International Advisory Board), by defenders of Israel are wrong. Recently, Justice Goldstone decided not to attend his grandson's upcoming bar mitzvah in South Africa after "members of the South African Jewish community threatened to disrupt the ceremony if he attended...." Update: Justice Goldstone now plans to attend his grandson's bar mitzvah, following consultation with several parties including the organized South African Jewish community.
Center's Director of Programs in International Justice and Society featured speaker at National Association of Women Judges' Annual Dinner Meeting
(4/20)
Leigh Swigart, the Center's Director of Programs in International Justice and Society, was the featured speaker at the National Association of Women Judges' District One Annual
Dinner Meeting April 20th. She spoke on "The Women and Men Who Decide the World's Cases." The meeting also featured opening remarks by Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Margaret Marshall.
Ethics Center staff participate in panel at annual conference of the New England Peace Studies Association (4/10)
Coexistence International Program Director Jessica Berns organized and moderated the panel "Building Peace: Practical Reflections from the Field," focused on peacebuilding practice around the world, at the annual conference of the New England Peace Studies Association. The panel included Cynthia Cohen, Executive Director of the Slifka Program in Intercommunal Coexistence at the Ethics Center. The conference, Water, Sun, Earth: Waging War or Building Community Solutions, held at the Peace Abbey in Sherborn, Mass., was attended by scholars whose work focuses on peace as well as by peace advocates from throughout the region. More info, including the conference program.
March 2010
Changing People in a Changing Climate? The Ethical Implications of Climate Disruption
(3/23)
Is it enough to recycle? Is it enough to drive a Prius? A conversation
with Michael Appell (IBS), Bernadette Brooten (NEJS, WGS, Classics),
Cristina Espinosa (SID, Heller School), and Tory Fair (Fine Arts). Intro
by Saleem Ali, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, University of Vermont,
author of Treasures of the Earth: Need, Greed, and a Sustainable
Future. Included first screening of film of Brandeis community
members' perceptions of climate change and related responsibilities.
Hosted by the Ethics Center with organizers Charlie Chester of
Environmental Studies and Irving Epstein of Chemistry. More
info, including essays by the four panelists.
Building Pathways to Sustainable Peace in Sudan: Why We Can't Wait
(3/22)
Gloria White-Hammond, co-founder of My Sister's Keeper, presented this Social Justice Leadership
Series lecture. My Sister’s Keeper is a faith-inspired, multiracial
collective of women who lend humanitarian assistance to communities of
women globally, with a focus on Sudan. For more information, visit the Social Justice Leadership
Series page or the Facebook event page.
Coexistence International Advisory Board Chair Mari Fitzduff is panelist for The Personal is Political: Feminist Activism over Time (3/18)
CI Advisory Board Chair and director of the international Master of Arts Program in Coexistence and Conflict at Brandeis University Mari Fitzduff was a panelist during a women’s history symposium, The Personal is Political: Feminist Activism over Time, held at the Brandeis Women’s Studies Research Center on March 18. In three different panels, speakers discussed women’s roles in international conflict resolution in Ireland, Liberia and Iran; local and international efforts to combat violence against women; and four decades of Our Bodies, Ourselves, the book that launched a worldwide movement to give women control over their reproductive lives and health. The symposium concluded with a dance performance entitled “There’s a Dance in the Old Dame Yet.”
Special opportunity for students to engage with world leaders (3/8)
The Ethics Center, in collaboration with the Social Justice Leadership Series, invited Brandeis students to intimate conversations with eminent members of the Center’s International Advisory Board, including former U.S. Senator Nancy Kassebaum Baker, JFK advisor Ted Sorensen, President of Al-Quds University Sari Nusseibeh, and other accomplished individuals. Sessions were limited to 30 students per session.
February 2010
Coexistence International Director writes about possible French ban on Islamic veils in GlobalPost.com (2/17)
In an opinion piece published by GlobalPost.com, Coexistence International Director Jessica Berns writes that "The recent French parliamentary committee report recommending a partial ban on women wearing Islamic face veils raises critical questions not just for French politicians and society at large, but for democracies throughout the world."
New Publication: The Legacy of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (2/10)
The Center was an organizing partner in a symposium held in Arusha, Tanzania in November 2007 about the legacy of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and has just published a report of the proceedings, available online [PDF].
The Green Canvas: The Artist as Environmental Activist - a Distinguished Visiting Practitioner Residency (2/8-11/10)
Hoseob Yoon, a South Korean graphic artist who has devoted his career and his life to protecting the environment, served as the Center’s fourth Distinguished Visiting Practitioner. His residency included class visits, art demonstrations, exhibits, and one-on-one visits with students and members of the community.
January 2010
Lunchtime presentation on "Leadership for Coexistence" featuring Club of Madrid affiliates (1/22)
Coexistence International (CI) and the Master's Program in Coexistence and Conflict sponsored a presentation on "Leadership for Coexistence."
Panelists were Sean Carroll, Director of Programs for the Club of Madrid and Tim Phillips, Founding Co-chair of The Project on Justice in Times of Transition at Tufts University and member of the Expert Advisory Panel of the Club of Madrid's Shared Societies Project and Coexistence International's Advisory Board. Mari Fitzduff, Director of the Master's Program in Coexistence and Conflict and Chair of CI's Advisory Board, moderated the discussion on the origins of the Club of Madrid's Shared Societies Project and strategies for engaging with world leaders to build shared societies. The Shared Societies Project is a global initiative that provides leaders with greater understanding of the benefits of coexistence and the incentives and means to act to advance it. The Project supports democratic development through leadership for dialogue, diversity, and social cohesion.
New Course: Advocacy for Policy Change (1/19)
The new course Advocacy for Policy Change (LGLS 161b), taught by Melissa Stimell, addresses theories, skills, networks and key players in the reform of public policy. The course is the centerpiece of a new initiative launched by the Ethics Center designed to encourage citizens to bring moral and ethical insights to the process of making and revising laws. The initiative is
supported by generous multi-year commitments from Center board member Norbert Weissberg and his wife, former board member Judith Schneider.
Balancing Sovereignty, Security, and Regard for International Norms (1/3-5/10)
International judges, along with leading international law experts from the Israeli government, military, academic community, and judiciary convened in January at the Center’s colloquium, Balancing Sovereignty, Security, and Regard for International Norms, in Jerusalem, hosted by the Mishkenot Sha’ananim international cultural and conference center and funded by the David Berg Foundation. The colloquium was covered by the Jerusalem Post and referenced in a Haaretz editorial.